2006:1488 - Ardbraccan 3, Meath

This site was located within Contract 3 (Navan bypass) of the proposed M3 Clonee to north of Kells motorway at the northern edge of an area of marshy pasture. It was identified during advance testing by Neil Fairburn during May 2004 (Excavations 2004, No. 1158, 04E0584). Full resolution occurred in May 2006 and revealed evidence for a small burnt mound of probable Bronze Age date and a later field system of probable medieval or early post-medieval date.
A subrectangular trough with rounded corners and vertical sides measured 1.95m by 1.32m by 0.39m deep. The trough was filled with heat-shattered limestone and a moderate amount of charcoal and cut three separate springs, which rapidly filled the lower half with water. A subcircular, shallow bowl-shaped pit of c. 1.6m diameter cut an earlier post-hole beside the trough. Numerous root boles and three sizeable tree boles were recorded in the immediate vicinity. Some of these included quantities of burnt limestone and charcoal, indicating the presence of a small former burnt mound (at least 6m by 4m) located slightly upslope of the trough. This is likely to have provided a slightly elevated position for the hearth, keeping it, and those who tended it, above the water table and facilitating the transportation of hot rocks into the trough. The simplicity of the site, coupled with the relatively small quantities of burnt stone, indicates a short period of use. The associated post-hole and use of limestone may indicate that it was used as a sweat lodge or washing facility.
A pair of parallel shallow field ditches cut the earlier burnt-mound complex and a number of furrows ran at right angles to the ditches.